[Musealia :Siamang]
A naturalised monkey that had been forgotten in a wardrobe for many years suddenly attracted attention when the zoology collection was moved. The siamang, a relative of the gibbon, lives in the canopy of the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. The knowledge of Siamang in Europe was late and it was Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Frédéric Cuvier who were the first to talk about it in 1821. According to them, it was probably a type of gibbon, but certain features, such as the direction of the hair on the forearm and the existence of a large laryngeal pouch, brought the species closer to the orangutan. The only distinctive feature was the joining of the index and middle toes of the feet by a membrane up to the last phalanx, which is why Syndactyl was the first name proposed for the species.
The origin of the Sorbonne University specimen was not known. Fortunately, a note found in the National Archives provided the missing information. In 1826, the Faculty of Sciences paid 120 francs for the purchase of a 'mounted orang syndactyl'. The author of the montage was Florent Prévost, first preparator at the Sorbonne. The naturalisation of the skin, in a bipedal position and leaning on a stick, is strongly reminiscent of Buffon's 'le jocko'.
This attitude also echoes Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier's description of the behaviour of siamangs in their book :
"(...) their bodies, too high and too heavy for their short, thin thighs, lean forward, and their two arms acting as stilts, they jerk forward, and thus resemble a lame old man who is being made to make a great effort by fear."
A very sad description for one of the animals best adapted to fast brachiation at the top of the forest! Clearly, in the 1820s, the naturalist approach had not yet entered the study of animals at the university.
By Santiago Aragon, head of the zoology collection at Sorbonne University.
Data sheet
- Name/Type : Naturalised Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus).
- Inventory number : Reserve-421
- Description: Antique taxidermy on wooden board (w. 50 cm; w. 95 cm; d. 55 cm).
- Date : 1826
- Place of storage : Zoology collection
Bibliography
- Etienne GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE et Frédéric CUVIER, "Le Siamang" dans Etienne GEOFFROY SAINT-HILAIRE et Frédéric CUVIER, Histoire naturelle des mammifères […], Paris, Lasteyrie, 1821.
- Santiago ARAGON, "Collections pédagogiques universitaires et construction de savoirs naturalistes", dans Dominique JUHE-BEAULATON, Vincent LEBLAN (sous la dir.), Le spécimen et le collecteur. Savoirs naturalistes, pouvoirs et altérités (XVIIIe-XXe siècles), Paris, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 2018, pp. 250-275 (Archives ; 27).
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